Chapter 6: While Ron Franz is driving in his car, he sees Chris hitchhiking on the side of the road. He picks up Chris and drives him home to where Chris is staying, Oh-My-God-Hot Springs. Ron sees that this is not a well-kept area and Ron tries to convince Chris to get a job and an education. Chris cuts him off and explains to him that he has an education and that he is choosing to live like this. After that, they spend a lot of time together until Chris decides to leave for San Diego in early February. He writes letters to Jan Burres and Ron Franz in San Diego telling them about his life as a hobo and his trouble in finding work. After leaving San Diego, he takes his adventures to Seattle, Washington by jumping trains and then moves back down to California to visit Ron Franz. He receives a call from Wayne Westerberg saying that he has work for Chris, so Chris moves back to Carthage. Before Chris leaves, Ron Franz tells Chris how much he means to him and asks him if he can adopt Chris as his grandson. However, Chris who is always pushing people away hesitates and tries to avoid the question. Then Chris writes a long letter to Ron, giving him advice on living life to the fullest. He tells him to move out of his house and be more nomadic. In addition, he explains how much happier Ron will be if he lives in the wild. Ron takes this advice and moves out into the bajada. Later, Ron is informed of Chris’s death and goes into a depression, which causes him to question his faith.
Chapter 7: In this chapter, Chris revisits Wayne Westerberg until April 15, which starts his adventure to Alaska. During his visit, he meets Gail Borah, who is Wayne’s on and off girlfriend. In this chapter, readers are also informed more about Chris’s relationship with his family. For example, it explains how his father was controlling over him. Chris writes a letter home to his sister, Carine, telling her his plans of divorcing his parents and knocking them out of his life. Also, Chris mentions to Westerberg that he eventually wants to settle down and have a family. In addition, he plans on writing a book about his travels. On Chris’s last night in Carthage, he displays his hidden talent of playing the piano and surprises everyone. Also on his last night when Chris went to hug Gail Borah, he started to cry, which made Borah realize that she may never see Chris again. While on his excursion to Alaska, Chris writes his final letters saying he is now “walking into the wild.”
Chapter 8:Jon Krakauer gets many angry letters from people stating their opinions about Chris’s death. Many of these Alaskans that write to Krakauer lack sympathy for Chris. Throughout this chapter, the author compares Chris’s nature to other men who share the same characteristics. To start, he introduces a man named Gene Rosellini, who was the governor of Washington State. He devoted his life to an experiment to see if humans can live off of only nature. He believed that humans had devolved into progressively inferior beings. Rosellini eventually put a knife through his own heart and was found dead on the floor of his shack. Another man who is similar to Chris is John Mallon Waterman. He was raised in the same area as Chris. His father, Guy Waterman, was a musician and freelance writer, who taught his three sons how to climb mountains. When his parents got divorced, his father never came back to visit him. This relates to Chris because they both go into the wild due to family issues. Waterman was always very self critical and always analyzing himself. Also, he would take extensive notes on everything everyday. John Waterman gives himself ridiculous expeditions, such as climbing Mt. McKinely at age sixteen. Also, he went to Kahiltna Glacier to begin a trip he was planning. However, he said he didn’t want to dies and he went home. Two months later, he prepared for his second attempt, but instead he went to Tikeetna in Benali. Here, his cabin caught fire and all of his equipment, notes, and journals were ruined. Waterman then made another on the Northwest Fork of the Ruth Glacier. This is where he was never seen again. It is believed that he might have broken through a thin snow bridge and plummeted to his death. The last man that relates to Chris is Carl McCunn. He went to Fort Yukon on a trip for Scenic photos. When he was there we forget to arrange for someone to pick him up. Luckily, a pilot spotted him overhead, but he couldn’t land the pane. It never returned because Carl was waving for help with one hand, which really means that everything is ok, so the pilot didn’t bother to land. McCunn eventually ran out of food, so he took his gun and shot himself.
Chapter 9: In Chapter 9, Jon Krakauer compares Chris to Everett Ruess. Everett Ruess is similar to Chris because he is partially afraid of having a close relationship with anyone. He wants to live life to the fullest instead of living an unsatisfied, safe life. Like Chris, Everett adopts a new name, Nemo. Also, while on his journey, Ruess writes letters to his brother admitting that he has had some near death experiences. In addition, he mailed two more letters and eight days later he came across two sheepherders, one mile from Davis Gluch. Everett Ruess spent two nights in their camp and that was the last anyone has seen him. Three months later, the unopened mail was forwarded to his parent’s house. When they received them, they were worried and organized a search party. They found his two burros at the bottom of Davis Gluch, which was near the area where Everett carved “Nemo 1934” in a stone slab. They believed that he fell to his death off of a cliff, or a team of cattle rustlers murdered him. Ken Sleight, who was the investigator, came to the conclusion that Everett drowned in the San Juan River.
Chapter 6: While Ron Franz is driving in his car, he sees Chris hitchhiking on the side of the road. He picks up Chris and drives him home to where Chris is staying, Oh-My-God-Hot Springs. Ron sees that this is not a well-kept area and Ron tries to convince Chris to get a job and an education. Chris cuts him off and explains to him that he has an education and that he is choosing to live like this. After that, they spend a lot of time together until Chris decides to leave for San Diego in early February. He writes letters to Jan Burres and Ron Franz in San Diego telling them about his life as a hobo and his trouble in finding work. After leaving San Diego, he takes his adventures to Seattle, Washington by jumping trains and then moves back down to California to visit Ron Franz. He receives a call from Wayne Westerberg saying that he has work for Chris, so Chris moves back to Carthage. Before Chris leaves, Ron Franz tells Chris how much he means to him and asks him if he can adopt Chris as his grandson. However, Chris who is always pushing people away hesitates and tries to avoid the question. Then Chris writes a long letter to Ron, giving him advice on living life to the fullest. He tells him to move out of his house and be more nomadic. In addition, he explains how much happier Ron will be if he lives in the wild. Ron takes this advice and moves out into the bajada. Later, Ron is informed of Chris’s death and goes into a depression, which causes him to question his faith.
Chapter 7: In this chapter, Chris revisits Wayne Westerberg until April 15, which starts his adventure to Alaska. During his visit, he meets Gail Borah, who is Wayne’s on and off girlfriend. In this chapter, readers are also informed more about Chris’s relationship with his family. For example, it explains how his father was controlling over him. Chris writes a letter home to his sister, Carine, telling her his plans of divorcing his parents and knocking them out of his life. Also, Chris mentions to Westerberg that he eventually wants to settle down and have a family. In addition, he plans on writing a book about his travels. On Chris’s last night in Carthage, he displays his hidden talent of playing the piano and surprises everyone. Also on his last night when Chris went to hug Gail Borah, he started to cry, which made Borah realize that she may never see Chris again. While on his excursion to Alaska, Chris writes his final letters saying he is now “walking into the wild.”
Chapter 8:Jon Krakauer gets many angry letters from people stating their opinions about Chris’s death. Many of these Alaskans that write to Krakauer lack sympathy for Chris. Throughout this chapter, the author compares Chris’s nature to other men who share the same characteristics. To start, he introduces a man named Gene Rosellini, who was the governor of Washington State. He devoted his life to an experiment to see if humans can live off of only nature. He believed that humans had devolved into progressively inferior beings. Rosellini eventually put a knife through his own heart and was found dead on the floor of his shack. Another man who is similar to Chris is John Mallon Waterman. He was raised in the same area as Chris. His father, Guy Waterman, was a musician and freelance writer, who taught his three sons how to climb mountains. When his parents got divorced, his father never came back to visit him. This relates to Chris because they both go into the wild due to family issues. Waterman was always very self critical and always analyzing himself. Also, he would take extensive notes on everything everyday. John Waterman gives himself ridiculous expeditions, such as climbing Mt. McKinely at age sixteen. Also, he went to Kahiltna Glacier to begin a trip he was planning. However, he said he didn’t want to dies and he went home. Two months later, he prepared for his second attempt, but instead he went to Tikeetna in Benali. Here, his cabin caught fire and all of his equipment, notes, and journals were ruined. Waterman then made another on the Northwest Fork of the Ruth Glacier. This is where he was never seen again. It is believed that he might have broken through a thin snow bridge and plummeted to his death. The last man that relates to Chris is Carl McCunn. He went to Fort Yukon on a trip for Scenic photos. When he was there we forget to arrange for someone to pick him up. Luckily, a pilot spotted him overhead, but he couldn’t land the pane. It never returned because Carl was waving for help with one hand, which really means that everything is ok, so the pilot didn’t bother to land. McCunn eventually ran out of food, so he took his gun and shot himself.
Chapter 9: In Chapter 9, Jon Krakauer compares Chris to Everett Ruess. Everett Ruess is similar to Chris because he is partially afraid of having a close relationship with anyone. He wants to live life to the fullest instead of living an unsatisfied, safe life. Like Chris, Everett adopts a new name, Nemo. Also, while on his journey, Ruess writes letters to his brother admitting that he has had some near death experiences. In addition, he mailed two more letters and eight days later he came across two sheepherders, one mile from Davis Gluch. Everett Ruess spent two nights in their camp and that was the last anyone has seen him. Three months later, the unopened mail was forwarded to his parent’s house. When they received them, they were worried and organized a search party. They found his two burros at the bottom of Davis Gluch, which was near the area where Everett carved “Nemo 1934” in a stone slab. They believed that he fell to his death off of a cliff, or a team of cattle rustlers murdered him. Ken Sleight, who was the investigator, came to the conclusion that Everett drowned in the San Juan River.
Megan Roethlein